- Taught in a distance educating school
- went on strike for 4 weeks and a bit,
- went to London and Paris with the family
- and played a lot of games (both digital and non-digital).
On the D&D Front
Picked up the Player's Handbook and the Monster Manual (will pick up the Dungeon Master's Guide eventually, just ran out of money as it was released just before Christmas). Amazing books and I really enjoy the rule set for the 5th edition. The only problem is that my play group and I are very busy and have had a hard time setting up a regular play schedule. Maybe 2015 will change that as I will only have 3 classes to teach next semester instead of the full load of 4. Also ran into this gem of a website (http://whothefuckismydndcharacter.com) recently and I think I will premake everyone's characters with it. This way when everyone is together we can just get to playing after a brief introduction to their characters.
One of my coolest experiences with D&D this year was running a convention game at NPC-Con. First time I ever ran a game with complete strangers but it was fun and I think the people I played with had a good time. Will definitely look into doing it again should NPC-Con run in 2015.
On the Tabletop Front
I've pretty much decided to give up tabletop wargaming. The hobby is just way too expensive. I had a dream once of being able to teach Penny how to play so we could both go to tournaments/events and have a great time pushing around toy soldiers against other people, but alas the price is so damn prohibitive. I popped in to the local game store and looked at a box of Centurions and I had to stifle my disgust at the price lest it offends the store owners. I still have my Deathwing (for which this blog was named after) but every time I think about Games Workshop it brings me one step closer to just selling them.
On the plus side I've spent more time playing board games instead. Got to play a lot of Catan and Ticket to Ride with the in-laws and this year we're going to add Lords of Waterdeep and Carcassonne to the list. Might try to get my other friends to play as well but we have our own games we like playing. Like MTG Cube or D&D or online games.
On the Video Game Front
So much this year. First my quest to get to gold in League of Legends is still on going. Maybe season 5 will be the season. I think the main issue for me is that I don't have the time to play a lot of games in succession so I lose a lot of practice in both mechanics and general game sense. I reached promos into Silver I twice but failed both attempts because I think I played at bad times (I tilted basically). Then it just went down from there. Ended the season back in Silver IV and now just waiting to play my season 5 placements.
We picked up an XBox One over the holidays and with it the newest version of Disney Infinity. The bundle also came with Assassin's Creed Black Flag and Unity but due to the nature of those games I haven't gotten around to playing them. Will probably do that over summer.
Penny is enjoying the XBox as the controller is easier for her to use than the Wii nunchuk and remote. She's gotten quite proficient in the 3d platforming world of Disney Infinity and has transferred those skills to the Lego Movie game. I think her next challenge will be to complete the Lego Batman 3 game which we bought on sale during Boxing Week.
The one game that I do play around her is Tomb Raider (though I'm not too sure if Penny should be around when Lara fights the crazy people). Penny has recently started asking me how the girl with the ponytail (Lara Croft) is going to get home since her ship and the plane broke but no time line yet as to when I plan on completing the game. Maybe during exam week.
A friend was kind enough to buy me a copy of Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn while it was on sale via Steam a few weeks back (I had full intentions of buying it myself and just as I logged in to do so, there was the gift waiting for me) and that's taken much of my gaming time during the League of Legends off season. Surprisingly fun game once I got over the lack of voice-over (oh SWTOR how you have spoiled me!) and I'll write more about it later.
I did record one of our dungeon runs (http://twitch.tv/mrarocena) while testing my internet and computer for stream capability and it appears I can stream if I wanted t (I will probably do this more often during my gaming nights). I recently hit level 50 on my first class so I can attempt some of the end-game stuff once I get through more of the main story quests.
On the Civ 5 World Wonder Tour (original post)
Our summer trip to London and Paris gave me the opportunity to cross off the following from my Civ 5 World Wonder Tour goal
- Stonehenge
- Big Ben
- The Globe Theatre
- The Eiffel Tower
- The Louvre
- Notre Dame